Steam hammer



Feb. i7. 1925.

T. w. HAND 1,526,977

S TEAM HAMMER Filed MaIOh 27, 1924 2 Sheets-She. l

iwf

BVM.

T. W. HAND STEAM HAMMER Feb. 17. 1925.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 27, 1924 Patented Feb. 17, 1925.

THOMAS Wmron HAND, orsHnrrrnLn, ENGLAND, assiomi-on "To nvY Aninos. LIM-Iran, or snnrrrnnn ENGLAND.

"STEAM i HAMMER.

Application filed `March 27, 1924. Sei`-ia1No."702,218.

To all whom t `'mag/u concern:

VBe it ffknown "that` I, THOMAS WrL'roN HAND, Off'Bar-klron -Vorks, Sheliield, ,in the county of York, England, a "British subject, have invented certain new and use/tui lmp'rovenents in' or Relating to Steam Hann mers, ol.E which'tlie following is a speci-fication.

vThis invention relates to hammersand the like (such as stamps. for example) Awhich are actuated byfelastic `fluids underpressure and Whie-h are commonly vdesignateed by the genericfterin steam hammers. lt is known to ,provide devices of ythis character with controlling devices governing the hammer strokes'by automatic control or byumanual Control. By the latter term is meant `that for each stroke of 'the hammer, the operator must actuate a controlling lever, while the former term rrefersto that method of control, in which a link gearing orother suitable fmeans, connects fthe hammer 4head and distribution valve, `for causing,` the movement of the hammer head to. reverse the valve and 'produce Successive or continuous strokes of the hammer, without requiring the operator tofaetuate a lever in order to bring'about each stroke. The object vof the` invention is to 4,provide an iinproved constructionftor the better enabling these various methods of? control to be eX- ercised to advantage.

According lto the `present invention, two i valves are provided "for controlling the supply olino'tive fluid to the hammer-cylinderg one. of said valves being a distribution valve for said cylinder', while ythe other valve Ais a combined change-over and regulator valve adapted to permit the, l'lnidpressure to act in the hammer-cylinder either `for singlestroke Working' under purely manual con@ trol or 'for automatic working alternatively at "will, this lattervalve beirut,r also adapted to regulate the rate jat which motive -luid passes to the distribution valve.

V'lhe distribution valve, which is actuated both automatically by or in time with the movements of ,the` hammer-tup and lalso manually so to determine :the stroke and cut-`otl` of the valve, lhas two separate inlet or supply ,ports adapted to` be put con? tinuous direct communication with the source of motive fluid, one of said ports alone, `being for useintpurely manual f workn ing,whereas bothports are for use in fautomatie working, while the combined change over and `regulator valve, which .is only mannallyoperable, and: serves to determine whether the oneinlet or supply port (or Vset offports) or both ,inlet or supply ports or' the distribution valveshall be put 1in continuous direct communication with -the y source of motive fluid, has likewise two controlled huntingagear, while the'combined change-over and regulator valvemay befa rotary `disc-valve and is cont-rolled,` inde pendently of the distribution valve, by manual `action alone.

VIn the accompanying drawings, which illustrate Vone form ofy the invention as lapplied to ra vertieally-reciprocable 'steamhammer, wherein ythe distribution valve of the invention is;arApiston-slidevalve while `the combined change-over `and regulator valve is a rotary disc-valve, Figurel is a side elevation iol* the hammer'as a whole, the two valves of the .present invention being shown in axial section. Figure@ isa sectional 'elevation of the two valves, shown separately on a larger scale,a'nd Figure 3 is a corresponding plan view, the exhause pipe being removedin the case ,of 'the pistou valve, and both the cover of the valvecham'- ber and also the valve itself being removed in the case of the rotary disc-valve, for the sake of clearness. Figures t, 5 and 6 are three plan views .of the rotary discfvalve and its seat, the-valve beingshownfin its three principal angular positions in the re* spective Figures In, Figure l, ll lis the main frame or standard of the steam liaminerylQis the steam cylinder; 13)r the hammer pistonrod; y

la the nhammer-head and lathe anvil-block all these parts beingo Vusual,construction and arrangement. A is the piston slidevalve constituting the distribution-valve of the present invention, and B is the rotary disc-valve constituting the combined changeover and regulator valve.

The piston slide-valve A, which is rectilinearly reciprocable in a vertical direction, is carried by an upright valve-stem 15 which passes downwards out of the valve-casing l? by way of a stuffing-box 13, and through a guide 19 fixed to the main frame l1, and is pivotally attached at 2O to a slee-ve 2l through which a lever 22, pivoted at 23 to the hammer-head lll so as to extend transversely of the path thereof, is fitted to slide; the sleeve 2l being coupled by a linlr 24 to the shorter arm 25 of the main control-lever 26 which is fulcrumed at 27 to the main frame ll so as to be adapted for movement in a vertical plane as usual.

The casing 17 of the piston-valve fr is provided, towards its opposite ends, with two annularly-arranged ports 28 and 29 (hereinafter referred to as distributionp0rts) which open respectively by way of suitable passages 30 and 3l into the upper and lower ends of the steam cylinder l2 of the hammer; while between said dist-ribution-ports the casing` 17 is provided witl two additional annularly-arranged ports 32 and 33 (hereinafter referred to as supplyports which are separated from one another by an annular partition 35, and through which steamcan gain admission by way of suitable passages 36 and 37 from the steam-pipe 34 under the control of the rotary disc-valve B, by means of which latter valve, when manual control is required, steam is admitted to the upper supply-port 32 alone, whereas when automatic control is required, steam is admitted to both the upper supply-port 32 and the lower supplyport 33, as hereinafter explained.

The piston constituting the valve A is hollow and open at both ends; its interior, and therefore also the space 33 beneath the valve-piston, being in constant communication with the exhaust passage or pile 39. rlhe exterior of the valve-piston A presents three outstanding annular rims whereof two, l0 and al, situated respectively at the upper and lower ends of the piston, are adapted to work over the respective distribut-ion-ports 23 and 29 with the requisite amount of lap, both outside. and inside, whereas the intermediate valve-rim 4t2 is adapted to work over the edge of the partition separating the respective supplyports 32 and 33. Both the cut-off edges of all these three valve-rims 40, All and 42 may (with one exception) be square so as to give sharp opening or closure of the ports as the ease may be. That is to say, the intermediate valve-rim 42, although square at its lower edge, is bevelled-ot't from its lower edge towards its upper edge as shown (see Figure 2), around the whole or tor a portion of its circumference, so that on the one hand when, during manual control, the valve-piston fr is depressed to admit steam from the upper supply-port 32 (which in these circumstances is alone supplied with steam) to the underside of the hammer-piston through the lower distribution-port 29, such admission will increase gradually the valve-piston descends; whereas on the other hand when, during automatic control, the valvepiston A is depressed to admit steam from the lower supply-port (which, as well as the upper supply-port 32, is in these eircunistances supplied with steam) to the underside of the hammer-piston by way of the lower distribution-port 2), such admission will take place sharply. '.ihe arrangement as a whole is preferably such that in any event, steam is admitted and compressed above the hammer-piston as the latter rises, so that any risl; the hammer-piston striking the top cover of the cylinder is obviated. yllhe combined change-over and regulator valve B is a rotary disc-valve controlled by a simple hand-lever d3, preferably secured on a shaft geared as at to the spindle dat. rihe valve-disc il rests upon a horizontal face el? having two sets of sector-shaped ports @t8 and t9 which respectively communicate, by way of suitable passages 5t) and 5l, with the upper and lower supply-ports 3:'- and of the piston-valve A. The passages and 5l are separater by a web 50 shown in dotted lines in 3, extending between the side walls of the casing Gl and a hollow boss (32 located at the center of said casing and through which boss the valve spindle -flil extends. 'lhe web tl() is a continuation of the horizontal partition (S13 (Fig. which separates the passages l' and 37, and the passages 50 and 5l are loci ed to the left and 'igl respectively of l is mounted the said web. 'lhe valve-d se in a chamber 52 whereotl the valve-face 47 forms the lower wall, and into V steam from the steam pipe 34tby wav of a passage 53. The wahre-dif itself has two sets of sector-shaped openin separated by sets of sector-shaped leares 55 of such angular width that, whe valve-disc is in normal ano'ular positie Figure l), all the ports a3, -il-S) are elose on the @ne hand, when the val 7e-di,f;e i turned to the extrenie position for autom: control Figure o), all the ports lief-5, a; will be fully opened, and on the other hand. when the valve-disc is turnerL to the extreme position for manual control (see Figure only those ooi-ts i3 will be fully opened which comn'ninicate with the upper supplyport of the piston valve A, the other p( s t9 being fully closed. By turning the valredisc B to various intermediate positions7 any desired combina-tion of opening or closure of the respective sets of ports Lt8 and if) may be obtained.

lf desired, the width and position of the valve-leaves 5e and 55 relatively to the ports 48 and 49 may be made such as to permit the valve B, when so required during automatic working, to occupy a position wherein only a slight admission ot steaml is allowed to the lower end of the hammer-cylinder l2 and no steam is admitted to the upper end of saidcylinder; such an arrangement enabling the hammer-tup to strike, at will, very light blows by gravity only.

lt will be understood that, during manual control, the admission oit' steam to the underside of the hammer-piston is entirely dependent upon the positionoi the central valve-rim a2 of the piston-valve A relatively to the annular partition 35 over which said rim works, and that the arrangement and proportions ot' the parts are such that the maximum travel ofthe main control-lever 26 will allow full steam-opening of the lower distribution-port 29.

The operation of the device is as follows: lt it is desired to operate the hammer by hand control with full steam pressure, the hand lever e3 is actuated to rotate the valve B to the position shown in Fig. 6. In this position of the valve, the steam from pipe 234iliows through passage 58into chamber 52 past valve B and through the port i8 into passages and 3G, being delivered, through the upper supply port 32 only to the distributing valve A. lf now the operator moves the main control lever 26 downward, the valve A will be moved upward to uncover the port 28 and permit the steam to iiow through the passage 30 to the upper end oi the steam cylinder thereby producing a downward stroke ot the hammer. To produce the upward movement of the hammer the movement of the valve A is reversed, that is, the valve is moved downward by the handle 26, to place the upper distribution port 28 in communication with pipe 39 and permit the steam in the passage 30 and cylinder l2 to exhaust. As the valve A starts to open, port 28 to exhaust, the bevelled upper edge of the intermediateV valve rim ll2 permitsh the steam from the passage 36 to flow past the partition 35 to the lower distribution port 29 and thence to the lower end ot the cylinder 12 to `raise the hammer. It will be noted that in the raising strokes et the hammer, the pressure of the steam is delivered to the port 29 gradually so as t0 enable the operator to control the hammer more readily. l

l/Vhen the valve B is set to the position shown in Fig. 5, steam will pass from the chamber 52 through alloi' the ports 48 and i9 to maintain a supply of steam in both oiZ` the passages 36 and 37 so that the steam may be admitted to the cylinder l2 more rapidly for raising the hammer during automatic control, thereby enabling a more rapid operation ot the hammer to be obtained. lt will be seen that simple manipulation ot the valve B enables the hammer to be operated either under manual control or under automatic control .under conditions most favorable for each system or method. ln addition, the same valve B may be set to permit more or less steam to be admitted to either or both the passages 36, 37 as desired.

l claim:

l. In a hammer or the like adapted tor actuation by elastic fluid, the combination of a hammer cylinder, a hammer-tup operatively connected therewith, a distribution valve for said cylinder, a pair ot conduits connecting said valve and cylinder, means whereby said valve is automatically actuated in time with the movements of the hammertup, n'ieanstor manually actuating said valve to determine its stroke and cut-oil, said valve having two separate inlet or supply ports adapted to be put in continuous direct communication with a source of motive fluid, one of said ports alone being i'or use in purely manual working whereas both ports are for use in automatic working, substantially as set forth, and a combined regulating and change-over valve for selectively admitting steam to one or both of said ports.

2. In a hammer or the like adapted for actuation by elastic fluid, the combination ot a hammer cylinder, a hammer-tup operatively connected therewith, a distribution valve for said cylinder, means whereby said valve is automatically actuated in time with the movements of the hammer-tup, means tor manually actuating` said valve to determine its stroke and cut-olf, said valve having two separate inlet or supply ports, one of which alone is for use in purely manual working, whereas both ports are .tor use inautomatic working and a manually operable combined change-over and regulator valve for selectively placing one inlet or supply port or both inlets or supply ports et said distribution valve in direct communication with a source of motive fluid, said change-over and regulator valve having independent ports, some of which are for use only in purely manual working of the distribution valve and all ot` which are for use in automatic working thereof substantially as described.

3. In a hammer or the like adapted for actuation by elastic luid, the combination ot a hammer cylinder, a hammer-tup operatively connected therewith, a distribution valve for said cylinder, comprising a rectilinearly-reciprocable slide-valve, means whereby said valve is automatically actuated in time with the movements of the hammertup, manually controlled hunting-gear for nizuiually actuating said Valve, the latter having independent inlets or supply ports adapted to be put in direct communication with a source or motive fluid, one oit said ports alone being tor use in purely manual working and both ports being for use in automatic w rliing, substantially as set forth, and a combined regulator and changeie for selectively placing one or both "l supply ports in coininunication with source ot motive fluid and for regulating rate at which said motive fluid passes to i distribution Valve. i

. a hammer or rthe like adapted for Y#nation by elastic finie, the combination of er cylinder, a haimner-tup operae connected therewithy a distribution "-:yc for 'd cylinder, means whereby said is anroniaticaly actuated in time with for manually actuating said valve to determine i-s strollr and cut-oli'. said valve hav- -fo separate inlet or supply ports, one of u alone is for use in purely manual working whereas both ports are 'lor use in automatic working, a rotary disc-valve constitutingv a combined change-over and regulator valve for se ectiifely placing one inlet r supply port or ooth inlets or supply port-s o'f said distribution valve in direct connection with a source of motive fluid and manually operated coi'itrolling means for controlling said dise-valve, independently oll said distribution valve.

5, ln a hammer actuated by elastic fluid, a hainn er-cylinder, a hammer-tup operatively connected therewith, a valve casing containing two annule. ports opening respectively into the cylinder near the opposite ends thereof, said valve casing having two additional annular supply ports connected to a source ot fluid supply, said ports being separated by partitions forming valve seats, a piston valve within the valve casing, said valve containing recesses, so as to present three outstanding` annular valve rims, the two rims atv its opposite ends controlling con'ununication of the two annular ports opening into the cylinder, and the third or intermediate valve rim seating on the edge of' the annular partition separating' the two supply ports.

(3. ln a hammer actuated by elastic fluid, a haminer-cylindera a hammer-tup operatively connected therewith, a valve casing containing two annular ports opening respectiif'ely into the, opposite ends of the cylinder, said valre casing having` two additional annular ports between the first mentioned ports connected to a source of fluid supply, one of said last named ports alone being for use in purely manual operation of said hammer and both of said last named ports beinO for use in automatic working, a piston valve ie moven'ients ot' the hammer-tup, means.

mace?? within the valve casing, said valve containing recesses so as to present three outstanding annular valve rims, the two rims at its opposite ends cont-rolling communication of the two annular ports opening into the cylinder with tne fluid supply ports, and the third or intern'iediate valve rim seating on the edge of the annular partition separating' the two supply ports, said third valve rim having one square edge so as to contact with the irterniediate annular partition, the other being bevelled-oll, so that the admission und will increase gradually as the valve "on descends.

i. il piston vvalve for a fluid actuated recesses therein so as to present three outstanding annular valve rims, the two outer L as having square cut-oil' edges, the t bird or intermediate annular Valve rim having one square cut-ofii'edge, the other being lz-cfelled-olf.

8. ln a hammer actuated by elastic fluid, a hammer-cylinder, a lmminer-tup operatii ,ry connected therewith, a valve casing containing two annular ports opening respectively into the opposite ends of the cylinc er, and having two additional annular ports behind the first mentioned ports connected to a source of fluid supply, annular partitions separating the said ports, a piston valve within the valve casing, said valve containing recesses so as to present three outstanding annular valve rims, the two rims at its opposite ends controlling` communication of the two annular ports opening into the cylinder with the fluid supply ports, and the third or intermediate valve rim seating on the edge of the annular partition separating the two supply ports, said third valve rim having one square edge so as to contact with the intermediate annular partition, the other edge being bevelled-of, so that the admission of fluid will increase gradually as the valve piston descends, and means for cutting ofln the supply of motive fluid to one of the fluid supply ports.

9. ln a hammer actuated by elastic fluid, a hainmer-cylinder, a hammer-tup operatively connected therewith, a valve casing containing two annular ports opening respectively into the cylinder and near the opposite ends thereof, and having two additional annular supply ports connected to a source of fluid supply, said ports being separated by partitions forming valve seats, a piston valve within the valve casing', said valve containing recesses so as to present three outstanding annular valve rims, the two rims at its opposite ends controlling communication of the two annular ports opening into the cylinder, and the third or intermediate valve rim seating on the edge of the annular partition separating the two supply ports, a motive Huid cont-rol lll() comprising a casing' having;- ports communicating' with said fluid supply ports, an intake port and a valve Within said casing,` having cut-out portions for establishing communication between said intake port and supply ports, and solid portions adapted to register vvitli said fluid supply ports and a manual control for said valve for shifting it so as to cut olia one fluid supply port or both, as desired.

10. In a hammer actuated by elastic fluid, a hammer-cylinder, a hammer-tup operatively connected therewith, a valve casing containing two annular ports opening respectively into the cylinder near the opposite ends thereof, and having tWo additional annular supply ports connected to a source of lluid supply, said ports being separated by partitions forming valve seats, a piston valve Within the valve casing, said valve containing recesses so as to present three outstanding annular valve rims, the tWo rims at its opposite ends controlling communication of the tivo annular ports opening` into the cylinder, and the third or intermediate valve rim seating` on the edge of the annular partition separating; the two supply ports, a motive fluid control means comprising a casing having ports communieating With said fluid supply ports, an intake port, and disk valve Within said casing registering with said `first named ports and having cut-out portions establishing communication `loetvveen said intake port and supply ports, and a manual control for said valve for shifting it so as to close one fluid supply port or both, as desired.

l1. ln a hammer actuated by elastic fluid, a liaminei-cylinder, hammer-tup operatively connected therewith, a valve casing` containing tivo annular ports opening respectively into the cylinder and near the opposite ends thereof, and having,` two additional annular supply ports connected to a source of fluid supply, said ports being separated by partitions forming valve seats, a piston valve Within the valve casing, said valve containing recesses so to present three outstanding; annular valve rims, the tivo rims at its opposite ends controlling1 communication of the tvvo annular ports opening1 into the cylinder, and the third or intermediate valve rim seating on the edge of the annular partition separatingl the tvvo supply ports, a motive fluid control means comprising a casing having ports communieating with said fluid supply ports, an intake port, a disk valve having` cut-out portions of irregular size i'or registering With said fluid supply ports, and establishing communication between said intake port and supply ports, and a manual control for said valve for shifting it to regulate the supply of fluid to one supply port or both, as desired.

THOMAS WILT'ON HAND. 

